Wow – it hardly seems possible that I’ve already reached the 100 mark, when this revised blog has only been operating as you see it for a few months. Prior to that, I was posting on multiple blogs for similar subjects. This forum has been an exercise in setting personal boundaries.

Thank you to all of you who continue to send me email and comments, online and offline. I really find the interaction very stimulating, not only for my own writing, but for the development and marketing of my clients’ products. My commitment to helping to develop authors on the West Coast of Canada is renewed every time I hear from one of you.

As a blogger who loves what she does, and what I write about, I can offer one piece of key advice. If you glean nothing else from reading about blogging, please know this: only blog about topics for which you have a true passion. Blogging is work, and loving your subject makes it a pleasure rather than a chore. More coming soon!

Working virtually often works extremely well in the Author – Editor relationship. I was recently made aware of a new escalation of this creative working concept by a friend of mine in the music business.

Adam Wakely is a pretty cool guy. He’s a talented brewmaster, has a devastatingly wicked sense of humor, and is a very talented musician to boot. His kids are following in his footsteps, and they will be able to make use of music technology in ways that Adam is just beginning to explore for himself.

Check out Adam’s latest successful experiment: a virtual band called Strange Trax. Adam and his band-mates Natalie, Adamz, Pooch, Beradley, and Web of Destress (where do these drummers get these wacky names, anyway?) have never met in real life. Adam’s brother Aaron is the final band member, who lives in the same town as Adam, but other than that, the entire band is virtual.

All the music is written, revised, practiced and recorded in different locations, including Canada, the USA, and the United Kingdom. Adam used his skills as a Master Music Editor and Recorder to make it all come together. I can’t believe how cohesive the sound is – not only inside each track, but between the tracks themselves. They have a consistent style, which is what it takes to snag and keep a following.

As the site states, “Is this a new step forward for the music industry? A new way of making music, with space and distance no object?” For all the writers who think that distance is an obstacle to making their book happen, think again. I sing a little, and I’m a lousy pianist, but man, can I edit.

One of the things I love the most about my job is that I get to become very involved in the lives of my clients. All of my clients are very interesting and complex individuals, and as a student of human nature, I’m always enthused by the idea of getting to know an interesting person on a very deep level, a level that perhaps not many others have. Over the course of the project, we do seem to develop a relationship that resembles that of a tightly-knit family.

Whether it’s stories about whacky things that happen to nurses, the worst thing that somebody has ever found on a previously-believed “dead” hard drive, or the moment when a client asks themselves a profound question that shapes their writing for years to come, I enjoy being there to hear all of it. It shapes my own writing, and my impressions of the world around me.
Editing is really about objective observation. We see the errors in grammar and punctuation that writers don’t, because we’re not emotionally invested in the material. (Or at least, we shouldn’t be emotionally invested.) When I realize I’m really starting to like a client and become friends with them – a difficult thing to avoid – I start to lose my objectivity. I’m then on dangerous ground, because I can best be an advocate for my client when I can see their faults, and help to correct those faults before the manuscript goes public.

But like any solid family, it’s interesting that we are usually able to find a solution that perhaps takes some compromise, but makes everyone happy in the end. The basis of a relationship that supports that is trust. I work hard to earn the trust of my authors. I offer them support in any way that I can – and I am always looking for support on their behalf. I want to be the best editor I can be for them, because they are doing their best to write a great book for their readers.

For the first time, I’ve been the victim of some nasty comments on this blog, using profanity and some harsh language. It took me by surprise because the remarks were so personal, and from someone I had never met.

Because my blog is set to hold all comments until I approve them, the comments never showed in public. I simply logged in the other day and saw them waiting for me – ready to ice the cake of my already stressful day. Using the IP address logged by our system, we were able to determine where the comments came from, and eventually, the actual author himself. It turned out he is an underage person who had simply taken too much to drink one evening, and decided to be a prankster.

The comments all concerned one item that I had blogged about, and involved another individual that I had linked to in that particular post. This other individual actually spoke to the commenter this evening by phone, at a home telephone number that the commenter provided when asked in an email message at the address he provided when he made the comment. (Doesn’t sound like a world-class hacker now, does he?) At this point, the offender is probably right to be a bit shocked and afraid of his own behaviour.

After an interesting (and I’m sure, gratifying) conversation with the young person, my friend gave me the update that the problem would not be repeated.

I’ve learned from this experience;

1. Always have comment moderation turned on.
2. People will do stuff you’d never expect, even in the eye of the public.
3. Don’t take nasty things said by people you don’t know too personally – it did really turn out that this person didn’t know what he was talking about. (And was drunk to boot!)
4. It turns out it is worthwhile to follow up to nasty commenters who use profanity and who say unreal stuff. We did get an apology, albeit a verbal one.

The only item outstanding for me relates to the fact that this nasty commenter turned out to be a teenage minor, and technically still a child in the eyes of the law. While I still insist that it was the right thing to do to call him and ask for an apology, I know that I wouldn’t like the idea of anyone else scolding my child but me. I’m not sure if we have compromised ourselves by doing so. But on the other hand, if my own child offended someone, I would want her to know. It’s only when we understand the damage we do that we feel a bit of pain ourselves, and are stimulated to correct our behaviours.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke died this week. It was incredibly difficult to hear, even though it’s clear that he lived a long and fulfilling life. I learned many lessons from him, and I continue to learn them as I read more of his vast life’s work.

Clarke was 90 when he passed away from the effects of Post-Polio Syndrome, a disease from which my father also suffers. Polio is a disease that only the tough ones can survive. My dad had polio as a teenager, and it caused permanent damage to his trachea. In the days when physiotherapy was more magic than science, my Dad self-re-habilitated his affected left leg by his own sheer willpower and determination. Clarke was also a guy of real character and vision, and his approach to writing revealed this in many ways.

Remember the generation that Clarke grew up in during post WWI – when a quiet, gentle life was such a great desire of the British people. The young Clarke must have been considered a dreamer who hid in his fantasies of life in outer space. I’d bet his mother really wanted him to be normal.

When a writer has a vision of a work that is vastly different than anything else out there, it can be hard to explain that vision to an objective person. But perseverance will reward a great idea with recognition and profit. Clarke was a spearhead for an entire generation. I think nothing of encouraging my daughter to break new ground, and to ignore her critics if she’s sure of herself.

Clarke paved the way for all authors with fresh ideas – not just sci-fi freaks, like me.

Some might say that I have serious control issues. Not a bit of it – I just like all the forks to face west in the cutlery drawer. The blades of all the knives must face east, but the spoons can be any which way. I still stack my mixing bowls according to size and colour, but I’ve conquered my issues with the folding of fitted sheets in the linen closet.

Because of this monkey on my back, for many years, my drug of choice has been 3M Post-it notes. It’s not difficult to maintain this addiction, because I don’t have to buy them discreetly. But the cascade of storage problems for the variety of note styles I now have in my personal stock has forced me to add harder stuff to my repertoire, like Rubbermaid storage products. And when I need a fast fix, I rely on my handy box of Ziploc bags in my bottom desk drawer.

One of the key ways that Post-it notes have actually helped to further my career is through something called a card-sorting exercise. This is custom-made for writers with organizational issues and a parade of marketing issues and tasks to sort out. I can’t do an outline without them now.

To really make this work, you need a broad surface that holds the adhesive on a Post-it really well. A glass patio door is pretty much perfect, but a window or white board will also do nicely. You will also need an assortment of Sharpie pens in colours that you find attractive. I use different colour pens to differentiate different clients: Joe is blue, Rick is green, Sue is orange, etc.

A card-sort exercise can be used for a variety of things, but my favourite is for prioritizing information and processes. If you’re working on a project where you have to stop and ask yourself things like “What comes first?” or, “Have I covered all my bases?”, this trick is for you. It is especially helpful in creating steering documents for group projects, because it ensures that all members of the team share the same vision. I always use it for project planning, marketing sessions, etc., but I also use it for simple stuff like planning my vacations, and my daily to-do lists.

Essentially, anytime a concept, task, challenge, or don’t-forget item occurs to you about a project, you write it on a Post-it using about 4-5 words max. I try to write large enough that I can read the note from about 10 feet away. This means you can relax – it’s now documented, and you won’t accidentally forget it. You can now feel free to open yourself to the next concept.

Once you’ve put all those ideas that were spinning around in your head on their own notes, you stick them all on a wall or glass door. (They seem to stick better on glass than painted surfaces.) Then, simply re-arrange them in priority order, or in columns, or to assign particular tasks to certain people, or whatever categorization you choose. When you’ve got them arranged how you like, use a digital camera to take a snap of the wall, and then you can remove them if necessary. By studying the photo, you can make a lovely chart which can be turned into a PDF and emailed to all team members.

I’m actually quite fond of leaving them up on the wall when I have space. There’s nothing more satisfying than ripping a task note off the wall once completed, and crumpling it up to throw in the fireplace. Plus, all I need is a periodic glance at my wall to remind me of what my tasks are and keep me on track.

If you’d prefer a virtual version of this exercise, 3M has created a cool mini-app that only costs $20 bucks. This hip little program allows you to click on a virtual yellow pad of notes, and quickly type a note to yourself. You can then arrange them all over your desktop in the same manner that you would on the patio door. This is great for doing on a plane – no phone to distract you, nobody tapping on your door.

I just checked, and I have notes stuck on a wall in every single room of my house. That includes the bathroom. I even have them in my car. Try explaining that to the cop that stops you for speeding. He only needs to glance around the car to know what you’re high on.

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I’m thinking quite seriously of spending about 3 months in Las Vegas. I love my Canadian home very much, but let’s face it: it’s cold and wet. I need to dry out. (Some might suggest that LV is the last place anyone should go to “dry out”, but I’m not rich enough to drink my way through that town.)

Does anyone take a sabbatical in America? Mexico seems to be the destination of choice for writers and musicians looking for objectivity. But I’ll still need to run my business from wherever I am, which means reasonable access to technology, international flights, and decent Chinese takeout. Vegas sounds like the perfect solution.

Nothing is real in Vegas anyway. Even the air in the casinos is so pumped up with extra oxygen that it’s no longer really air – it’s a feel-good mixture that enhances your dice-tossing skills. Where else can you eat pie for breakfast, ride a roller coaster before lunch (not after it), and wear an evening gown to business meetings? I’ll tell you – nowhere but Sin City, baby.

Besides, to a Canadian, everything in America is super-sized and attractively unnatural. Preachers dress like movie stars, and movie stars dress like prostitutes. The President thinks he’s a cowboy. Citizens buy carbon credits to make up for all the disposable items they use. I mean, you’ve got to love a country that puts glitter in deodorant.

I don’t even have to make it all the way to Vegas – I hear there’s a little place just over the Nevada border where you can buy a steak dinner for just $1.49. Now, doesn’t that sound like an unreal deal to you?